Are you an avid reader looking for your next "fix"? Can't bear to be without some form of reading material in your spare time? Welcome to my world! Whether you are seeking a new book to "feed your need", or you are an author seeking an unbiased point of view on your own recent masterpiece, this is the place to be. With life as with books, you never know where the next step might take you...

QUICK NOTE...Update: 9/7/19

First of all, my heart goes out to all those affected by the recent heinous weather outbreaks, most recently being Hurricane Dorian. We were right in the path of Hurricane Michael (like so many others), and we're still trying to get back in our home. Things are very slow to progress towards normalcy...and every day presents a new headache/nightmare to deal with. Hopefully by month's end, we'll be back in there to start the next leg of recovery. Thanks for stopping by and sharing my bookish adventures. It helps remind me I'm not alone in this crazy journey called life.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni's Ice Machine by Monica Kulling

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

We're tucking into Saturday with an edutainment pick from an author we know and love here on the site. Her latest addition to the Great Ideas Series released this January and she's once again shed light on the creative mind behind an invention we know of but not as much about...unless you're a hockey or ice skating fan. Can you guess where I'm going with this yet? No worries. We'll let the chill in the air cool off your Summer day as we ﻿explore between the pages of today's book of choice...

This is the story of how Zamboni became the name synonymous with those one-manned Ice Machines that work their magic on rinks around the globe. Frank's invention came out of necessity, as do some of the best ones out there. He needed a way to cut down the time it took to provide skaters at his rink with a smooth, glass-like surface to glide across for pleasure, practice, or intensive play. You see, back in the 1940's the job took MULTIPLE people to accomplish in almost a TWO HOUR window. Would YOU want to wait that long to get back on the ice? Yeah...in today's give-it-to-me-now-and-why-is-this-site-taking-so-darn-long-though-it's-really-only-been-five-seconds world, the place would be deserted in a heartbeat. Frank knew there had to be a better way and through his ingenuity, hard work, and dedication, the dream he dreamed turned reality.

I've said it before and I'll continue saying it as this series of Children's Non-Fiction works grows...I love how they wrap the educational aspects of the book inside wonderfully illustrated pages that highlight inventors of those things we take for granted but never took a second to think about how they came to be. You're made to think about the "what if's". You know, WHAT IF this person never had that idea, WHAT IF they decided it wasn't worth the effort, WHAT IF that invention never came to be...and so on. Those lead us to the "how's", like HOW would our lives be impacted by that invention not having been made, HOW would we have advanced in that particular area...and so on.

So you see, a two fold read indeed. It's entertaining and educational in all the right proportions with illustrations that fill in the blanks for those lack previous exposure to the particular invention. I was born in the Northern U.S. so we had more ice rinks than my current "home", thus I'd seen one face-to-face so to speak in my youth. They're pretty big and mysterious to see, but this little read explains it all without getting too in-depth for those with passing interest. I'd say a win win overall and a delightful read perfect for the classroom, summer reading lists, and family read nights.

Monica Kulling was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She received a BA in creative writing from the University of Victoria. Monica Kulling has published twenty-six fiction and nonfiction books for children, including picture books, poetry, and biographies. She is best known for introducing biography to children just learning to read and has written about Harriet Tubman, Houdini, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart among others. Monica Kulling lives in Toronto, Canada.

Special thanks to author Monica Kulling and the team at Tundra Books for the copy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the series, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now via Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing. Stay tuned for more from this prolific author, as Zap!is set to hit store shelves this August...and guess who has a review copy already in hand and ready to review? ^-^